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Press Release: Vote YES on 2 Group Misleading Voters with Arrest Data

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Photo Credit: matthew kenwrickThe Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is misleading Alaska voters. Their campaign is claiming marijuana arrest rates that are patently false and inflated by nearly 25%. The data they used is outdated, as is evidenced by a recent and comprehensive report prepared by the Analytical Statistics Center at the UAA Justice Center which was widely distributed to and reported by media in September.

In its recent reporting of arrest rates, the proponents of legalization of marijuana in Alaska, use common propaganda techniques to sway the public into believing that great numbers of Alaskans are being jailed for small marijuana possession offenses. Kalie Klaysmat, executive director of the Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police explains, “The data source they draw upon, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, reflects specifically defined and reported data elements.

For example an “arrest” as defined by UCR includes not only those physical arrests when someone is booked into jail, but also includes actions as simple as a summons into court, where the person is released on a promise to appear in court, similar to a traffic citation. Unfortunately, proponents of the measure prefer that the public imagine all arrests to involve handcuffs and jail and they make no effort to define that term in its proper context to the voters.“

On the last prison census date, there were only 4 prisoners in Alaska jails who had been convicted of Misconduct Involving Controlled Substances in the 6th degree which includes marijuana possession, and each of these prisoners also had other concurrent convictions— sometimes multiple convictions— which could keep them in prison even if their marijuana conviction did not exist.

The concurrent convictions for these 4 inmates included attempted 2nd degree sexual assault, 4th degree assault, driving under suspension, parole violation, misconduct involving weapons, and misconduct involving controlled substances in the 3rd degree. None of these convicts were imprisoned for marijuana offenses alone.

This misleading of voters is part of a pattern that has emerged from the proponents of ballot measure 2 and it’s a tactic that the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington D.C. based organization backing the Alaska measure, has used in other states. Recently former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper was touted as a proponent of legalization without mention of his troubled law enforcement career that ended 15 years ago in controversy. He is now an activist against law enforcement. ( see : https://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19991207&slug=3000005)

The Alaska Association of Chiefs of Police was established as a voice to represent all law enforcement executives in Alaska. Membership includes Chiefs and Commanders from local, state and federal criminal justice agencies, including law enforcement, corrections, prosecutors, security professionals and others and their mission is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of Alaska’s criminal justice system.

The Alaska Peace Officers Association (APOA) is a dynamic, professional and fraternal organization. Their membership consists of law enforcement, corrections, prosecutors, security professionals and others at the local, state and federal levels. APOA represents peace officers and their issues and is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit associations in the state.

Point of Contact:

Kalie Klaysmat, Executive Director
[email protected]

Polar Bear Breaks into Home in Alaska Village

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Photo Credit: AP/Dan JolingRuby Kaleak’s part-time job is keeping polar bears away from people in a village on Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast, so she was prepared when one of the biggest bears she’s ever seen got inside a house. . .

She and a co-worker spotted the polar bear inside 81-year-old Betty Brower’s home in Kaktovik, a village of 300. It was eating seal oil from a drum.

Kaleak carries a shotgun loaded with beanbag and firecracker rounds, but she and a co-worker shooed the bear away.

Read more from this story HERE.

North Carolina And Alaska Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

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Photo Credit: Jeff Siner / MCT / LandovSame-sex couples in Alaska and North Carolina are receiving marriage licenses, after courts in those states recently overturned bans on gay marriage. The two states are part of the cascading effects of the Supreme Court’s refusal to review any appeals in same-sex marriage cases in its current term.

Some couples say they’re rushing to marry out of concern that future rulings could go against them; others are merely pouncing on an opportunity they had long awaited.

In North Carolina, a few counties began issuing the licenses to same-sex couples late Friday, after a federal judge in Asheville struck down the state’s ban. Member station WUNC has been reporting on the weddings that followed.

By the time the Mecklenburg County Register of Deeds opened at 8 a.m. this morning in Charlotte, about 20 couples were already waiting in line, according to member station WFAE.

Read more from this story HERE.

Federal Tyranny: Bush Appointee Says Alaska's People, Constitution Don't Matter

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A federal judge on Sunday struck down Alaska’s first-in-the-nation ban on gay marriages, the latest court decision in a busy week for the issue across the country.

It wasn’t immediately clear when marriage licenses would be issued to same-sex couples in the state, however the state does have a three-day waiting period between applications and marriage ceremonies.

The state intends to appeal the ruling, Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for Gov. Sean Parnell, said in an email to The Associated Press.

“This is just an amazing day for Alaska. We’re just so fortunate that so many have fought for equality for so long — I mean, decades,” said Susan Tow, who along with her wife, Chris Laborde, were among couples who sought to overturn Alaska’s ban.

Tow and Laborde, who married in Maryland last year, planned to meet with other plaintiffs, some by phone, later Sunday to celebrate.

Read more from this story HERE.

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Violates 'Fundamental Right,' Alaska Attorneys Say

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Photo Credit: Huffington PostAttorneys for the gay couples challenging Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage say the right to marry is fundamental and due to all individuals.

They take issue with the state saying the U.S. Supreme Court has never held that there is a fundamental constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The plaintiffs’ attorneys, in a court filing Friday, said the high court has upheld a broad definition of marriage.

They said it is unnecessary to parse out certain classes of individuals for whom marriage should apply.

In this case, “the issue is not whether there is a constitutional ‘right to same-sex marriage,’ but whether excluding people from a fundamental right that belongs to all individuals violates due process,” attorneys Allison Mendel, Heather Gardner and Caitlin Shortell say in the filing.

Read more from this story HERE.

Walrus Invasion: 35,000 Come Ashore in Alaska

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Photo Credit: APPacific walrus that can’t find sea ice for resting in Arctic waters are coming ashore in record numbers on a beach in northwest Alaska.

An estimated 35,000 walrus were photographed about 8km north of Point Lay, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Point Lay is an Inupiat Eskimo village 482 km southwest of Barrow and 1,126 km northwest of Anchorage.

The enormous gathering was spotted during NOAA’s annual arctic marine mammal aerial survey, spokeswoman Julie Speegle said by email.

The survey is conducted with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency that oversees offshore lease sales.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Physician Shuts Down Practice, Citing Obamacare

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller After a long list of Obamacare failures in Alaska, one physician is shutting down his decades-old practice, charging that the health-care law and other federal PROGRAMS are “unsustainable” for practicing doctors.

Dr. William Wennen, a plastic surgeon, is closing his Fairbanks practice after 38 years of working in the state. Dr. Wennen blames federal HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS, citing Obamacare, Medicaid and MEDICARE, for shutting down his practice.

“It is an unsustainable system,” Dr. Wennen wrote to his customers in a letter obtained by The Daily Caller. “I am personally writing off upwards of three quarters of a million dollars annually in free/uncompensated care.”

“My reasons for closing down the office are simply economic,” Wennen wrote. “The governmental agencies that are supplying ‘medical insurance’ to the elderly, the disadvantaged, the indigent and the sick, injured, or disabled have placed an unrealistically low value of worth on physician’s services.”

Medicaid typically has the lowest physician reimbursements of any federal program. Doctors have been protesting pay cuts for services through Medicaid and Medicare. It’s increasingly difficult for customers to actually find health care providers that accept the coverage — especially in private practice, where doctors are more hard-pressed to be profitable than at big-budget hospitals.

Read more from this story HERE.

Strong Earthquake Rattles Large Swath of Alaska

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Photo Credit: Arthur ChapmanA powerful earthquake shook a large swath of Alaska on Thursday morning, knocking things off shelves and causing people to take cover but bringing no immediate reports of major damage.

The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, and hit at 9:51 a.m. The epicenter was about 80 miles northwest of the state’s largest city, where it was strongly felt and lingered for at least a minute, the Alaska Earthquake Center said.

Staffers at the Nesbett Courthouse in downtown Anchorage felt the shaking in their office on the top floor of the six-story building.

“My computer tower fell off my desk,” said judicial assistant Ellen Bozzini. Everyone stood in doorways until an evacuation was ordered, then they took the stairs outside where they waited for about 20 minutes before being allowed back in.

Read more from this story HERE.

Alaska Television Reporter Quits On Air to Promote Medical Marijuana Business

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Photo Credit: YouTubeAfter reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club on Sunday night’s broadcast, KTVA’s Charlo Greene identified herself as the business’s owner.

“Everything you’ve heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all my energy toward fighting for freedom and for fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska,” she said. She then used an expletive to quit her job and walked off-camera.

In a statement on KTVA’s website, news director Bert Rudman apologized for Greene’s “inappropriate language” and said she was terminated.

Greene is the professional name used by Charlene Egbe. She told The Associated Press on Monday that she knew about a month ago that she would be leaving the way she did. No one else at the station knew anything about it, she said.

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Russian Nuclear Bombers Intercepted by US Near Alaska

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Photo Credit: TownHallRussian strategic nuclear bombers carried out air defense zone incursions near Alaska and across Northern Europe this week in the latest nuclear saber rattling by Moscow.

Six Russian aircraft, including two Bear H nuclear bombers, two MiG-31 fighter jets and two IL-78 refueling tankers were intercepted by F-22 fighters on Wednesday west and north of Alaska in air defense identification zones, said Navy Capt. Jeff A. Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. Two other Bears were intercepted by Canadian jets on Thursday.

“The group of Russian aircraft flew a loop south, returning westward toward Russia,” Davis told the Free Beacon.

A day later two more Bear bombers were intercepted by Canadian CF-18 jets in the western area of the Canadian air defense identification zone near the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, he said.

The Russian bombers did not enter U.S. airspace but flew within 63 miles of the Alaskan coast and 46 miles of the Canadian coastline, Davis said.

Read more from this story HERE.